DOVER — State officials on Wednesday said a new telephone contract for prison inmate phone calls will immediately drop rates by 30 percent.
The Delaware Department of Technology and Information (DTI) secured a contract with Global Tel*Link that became effective on Tuesday and runs through June 30, 2018. DTI manages the contract for the state, which replaces previous services provided by the GTL company. The Delaware Department of Correction was told of the new rates by DTI on Wednesday, spokesman Jason Miller said.
Inmate advocate Ken Abraham, founder of the Citizens for Criminal Justice, termed the new contract “a step in the right direction,” but said a planned Delaware prison phone boycott from Sept. 6 to 13 is still set.
“I am aware of this recent development,” he said. “However, this does not deter us from urging the Delaware prisoner phone boycott.”
Mr. Abraham claimed there are hundreds of thousands of state and federal prisoners nationwide affected by what he termed as “obscenely high rates” still in need of assistance.
Also, he said the boycott will call attention to other overpricing concerns regarding inmate products and services.
The planned boycott may inspire inmates in other states to follow suit in demanding for fair pricing, Mr. Abraham said.
“It’s a huge problem nationwide,” he said. The boycott urges refraining from making prison-related phone calls for a week unless absolutely necessary, Mr. Abraham said.